The making of Polish London through everyday life,
1956-1976

Abstract

The wartime and postwar Polish emigration allows us to study a ‘parallel’
history of the Polish nation. Poles in Great Britain were free from the
restrictions imposed on Poles in the homeland by the communist
dictatorship; they were thus better able to continue in the intellectual
and cultural paths of interwar Poland. But by the later 1950s it was clear
that there would be no early return to a free Poland. Poles in exile had
to adapt to their condition, and interact with a rapidly changing British
society. As a result, their characteristics diverged from those of Poles
in the homeland and – despite their best efforts – from those of their
ancestors as well. This dissertation examines the distinctive ‘parallel
Polish world’ at the level of everyday life, rather than the central
institutions of ‘Polish London’. It focuses on three Gminy (Communities)
founded in the 1950s: the Polish Community of West London, the Polish
Community of South London, and the Polish Centre in Lewisham.
The diverse and enjoyable social activities undertaken or supported by
the Communities – dances, Saturday schools, sport, scouting and guiding,
charity, religious and national commemorations – were subordinated to the
aim of maintaining Polish national identity in exile, and transmitting it
to subsequent generations. This kind of ‘Polishness’ was heroic,
martyrological, and Roman Catholic. The organizational and fundraising
skills developed in the Communities’ pursuit of their own houses proved
invaluable in the building of the Polish Social and Cultural Centre in
London (POSK). However, among the casualties of POSK were the Polish
Communities of West and South London, which effectively came to an end in
1976. Only the more peripheral Lewisham Centre survived. POSK’s benefit
to everyday Polish life in London has been questionable. The Gminy may
yet offer an organizational model for a new, more numerous wave of Polish
emigrants to the UK.